'Without abuses, you cannot instill fear'

In a candid chat, bandit queen Seema Parihar trashes filmi dacoits and talks about much more. Read on for details.

She has been a dreaded dacoit once. And now she will portray herself on celluloid. In a candid chat with HTTabloid, bandit queen Seema Parihar trashes filmi dacoits and talks about much more. Read on...

You have been a real life dacoit. What is your opinion about the portrayal of bandits in films?
The life of dacoits shown in Bollywood films like Sholay, Bandit Queen, Mujhe jeene Do is bunkum and unrealistic. Dacoits are not like actors. They are burly and cruel people. They don't sing songs around trees. You don't have cabaret shows in evenings in ravines. You can have shrieking rape scenes instead.

What about the film made on you by director Krishna Mishra?
It is somewhat realistic. I tried to play the real bandit in film because not very long ago I was a bandit. But an unnecessary controversy has been created regarding the abusive language in the film.

In real life, do you abuse?
Without abuses you cannot command your subordinates. You cannot instill fear.

Did you lay any condition before signing the film?
Yes, I had told the filmmaker that you should not romanticize my life the way Phoolan Devi's life was romanticized in the Bandit Queen.

How do you feel replaying your life on-screen?
Replaying my life on screen was a heartrending experience. I was kidnapped at the age of 13, forcibly married to Nirbhay Gujjar. I cannot describe in detail the torture I faced when I was young. For six years I could not meet my parents because that could have put them in trouble.

What forced you to pick up the gun?
The mental and physical torture to which I was subjected made me a criminal. That forced me to pick up the gun.

Do you hope to get acquitted from criminal cases?
Most of the cases are false so I do hope to get acquitted.

But you were once famous as a dreaded bandit queen who committed untold atrocities?
This is not correct.

So, haven't political parties offered you to contest elections?
Yes, several parties have given offers. But I have not decided whether I would join politics or not.